New teacher, staff contracts to help Clarkston Schools save $3 million

A new contract settled with teachers, office personnel and para-educators is expected to save Clarkston Community Schools about $3 million for the coming school year.

"These are times we have never seen before," said Brooke Davis, president of the Clarkston Education Association. "There was a lot of give and take on the teachers' part. We wanted to do what was best for kids by keeping teachers in the classroom. I'm not looking at my pocketbook in these negotiations."

Davis said approximately 80 percent of the teachers voted yes on the contract.

About $2 million will be saved from changes to the health care policy that calls for the three staff groups to begin paying deductibles and co-pays.

Advertisement

In the current contract, teachers, office personnel and para-educators have no deductibles for prescriptions or co-pays for office visits. The 2011-2012 contract will require staff members in the groups to pay $10 for generic prescriptions, $20 for brand prescriptions and a $5 co-pay for office visits. Annual deductibles of $200 for a single person or $400 for a family will also be required.

Another $800,000 to $1 million is expected to be saved by freezing salary steps, or pay increases, in the teachers' contract.

The 2010 contract gave automatic salary step increases of 3.5 percent to any teacher with fewer than 16 years of service who earned an additional year of teaching.

The teachers' salary schedule for 2010 began with a $38,087 salary for a first year teacher with a Bachelor's degree. A teacher with 16 years of experience with a Bachelor's degree had a salary of $76,174.

Additional salary increments were paid to teachers with a Master's degree, a Master's plus 30 additional hours of higher education, an Educational Specialist degree or a doctorate degree

The current year's salary schedule is available on the district's website, www.clarkston.k12.mi.us, under transparency reports.

Though step increases have been frozen for the 2011-2012 school year, teachers who earn additional degrees or 30 hours of higher education above their Master's degree will receive additional compensation.

The board also approved an additional $642,909 in cuts in programs and personnel at its April 11 board meeting, increasing total savings for the coming school year to about $3.5 million.

Those savings will come from eliminating teacher aides in grades one and two, reductions in the elementary media staff, the elimination of a secretarial position at secondary schools, reducing supplies and professional development costs for the International Baccalaureate program and eliminating some transportation for field trips. The retirement of two principals at elementary schools will also provide some savings.

"The settlement is an effective collaboration process between the board, the administration and the employee groups," said Stephen Hyer, president of the district's Board of Education. "We all want to do what is best for kids."

The board is also looking into whether additional savings could be realized through self-funding medical and prescription insurance. Self-funding means the district would pay for health care costs up to $100,000 for an employee and purchase stop-loss insurance to cover additional costs above $100,000.

According to the Society of Human Resource Management, self-funding employee health care costs is one alternative that allows organizations to reduce and manage their health care costs and improve cash flow.

"The self-insurance is an improvement and positive step for all of us," said Rod Rock, the district's superintendent.

Rock called the negotiations with staff and total savings from it, "a remarkable accomplishment by Anita Banach, our human resources director, and the core team ... The contract is a long term benefit for the children of Clarkston and I appreciate the work of the para-educators, secretaries and teachers."